Announcement from David Steinberg

David sent the following notice today:

Happy Holidays! I have big news: I’m the new editor of the Universal Crossword and Universal Sunday Crossword! The Puzzle Society Crossword has “folded into” the Universal Crossword and will no longer continue as a separate entity; its final puzzle ran on Sunday 12/30.

Four Universal Crosswords under my editorship have already appeared: one Sunday 21×21 on 12/30 by John Guzzetta and three 15x15s—Monday 12/31 by Jim Peredo, Tuesday 1/1 by Samuel A. Donaldson and Doug Peterson, and Wednesday 1/2 by Paul Coulter. The daily puzzles can be viewed and solved online here and in print; the Sunday 21×21 puzzles are print-only. At present, Across Lite files are not available.

Each week I’m publishing eight themed Universal crosswords—seven 15x15s and one 21×21. Puzzles appear in all venues that formerly ran the Universal Crossword, as well as in those that ran the Puzzle Society Crossword.

Among the many new venues that run the 15x15s are The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Seattle Times; new venues that run both the 15x15s and the 21x21s include the Chicago Sun-Times, the New York Daily News, and the Miami Herald. The Universal Crossword is also truly universal, appearing in countries as far-flung as China, India, and Saudi Arabia!

If you have a puzzle coming up and want to know whether it appears in a nearby paper, just email me your hometown and I’ll let you know.

I also have a handful of other announcements for constructors:

1. I apologize for the delay in responding to submissions that came in while I was finishing up fall quarter; I’ll be getting to them as soon as I can.
2. I’d like to remind everyone to keep clues and entries easy/medium in all puzzles. One of my main focuses right now is making sure there isn’t a noticeable increase in difficulty as the puzzles transition under my editorship.
3. The Universal Crossword has more space constraints than the Puzzle Society Crossword did, so please use long clues sparingly, especially in 15x15s.
4. The maximum word count for 21x21s is 144.
5. A full list of submission guidelines should be up on Cruciverb soon. To recap, the rate for 15x15s is $110; for 21x21s, $260. Grid sizes are strict (e.g., no 16x15s); circles, shading, and rebuses can’t be accommodated yet, though I’m open to workarounds. Theme queries are also welcome. Please limit submissions to three at a time and allow three months for a response before following up.
6. The Puzzle Society Crossword Crossing blog has ended, though I do plan to post at least one update soon; at this time, there are no plans to make a similar blog for the Universal Crossword.

Finally, I have an exciting personal announcement: A few months after I graduate from Stanford this June, I’ll be joining Andrews McMeel Universal in Kansas City as their puzzles and games editor! My main responsibility will be to continue editing the Universal Crossword, though I’ll also be working on other projects.

I think that covers everything—if you have any questions, please email me.

Thanks again for your support,

David